Emergency Physician
Emergency Physicians are medical doctors who have completed four years of college and four more of medical school. After medical school comes another five years of residency. To be board certified in emergency medicine, candidates must complete an accepted program and pass both written and oral exams.
Emergency Physicians perform an appropriately directed history and physical examination on emergency department patients. Recognize emergent and urgent problems. Develop a differential diagnosis for common presenting complaints such as chest pain, shortness of breath, abdominal pain. Develop an appropriate and cost-effective management plans for the emergency department patient presenting with common complaints such as acute asthma exacerbation, congestive heart failure, bronchitis, etc. Demonstrate proper wound care and suture technique for simple lacerations. Recognize ischemic patterns and arrhythmias on EKG tracings. Appropriately interpret results of complete blood count, chemistries, urinalysis, arterial blood gases, and the common laboratory studies. Appropriately interpret radiographs of the chest, abdomen, and extremities. Recognize the indications for specialty or subspecialty consultation.
Cardiologists
Cardiology is a specialty dealing with disorders of the heart and blood vessels. The field includes diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and electrophysiology. Physicians specializing in this field of medicine are called cardiologists. Cardiologists should not be confused with cardiac surgeons who are surgeons who perform cardiac surgery - operative procedures on the heart and great vessels.
Pediatric urologists
Pediatric urology is a surgical subspecialty of medicine dealing with the disorders of children's genitourinary systems. Pediatric urologists provide care for both boys and girls ranging from birth to early adult age. The most common problems are those involving disorders of urination and testes.
Some of the problems they deal with are:
Bladder control problems such as bedwetting and daytime urinary incontinence
Undescended testes (cryptorchidism)
Hypospadias
Urolithiasis (bladder and kidney stones)
Chordee and other minor malformations of the penis
Phimosis
Urinary obstruction and ureteral reflux
Neurogenic bladder (e.g., associated with spina bifida)
Tumors and cancers of the kidneys
Repair of genitourinary trauma
Genitourinary malformations and birth defects
Prune belly syndrome
Cloacal exstrophy, bladder exstrophy, and epispadias
Ambiguous genitalia and intersex conditions
In North America, most pediatric urologists are associated with children's hospitals. Training for board certification in pediatric urology typically consists of a surgery internship as part of a urology residency followed by subspecialty training in pediatric urology at a major children's hospital.
Radiologists
Radiologists are medical doctors who have completed four years of college and four more of medical school (some universities offer combined bachelor's and medical degrees in six year programs thus shaving off two years). After medical school comes another five years of residency. The National Boards or other testing agency tests radiologists all the way along, from college into medical school by the MCATS and from medical school into residency. To be board certified in radiology, candidates must complete an accepted program and pass both written and oral exams. The multiple-choice written test is a daylong ordeal that covers all aspects of radiology, radiation physics, and safety. The oral exams, which are now given in Louisville, KY, every six months, are even more rigorous. Candidates meet with professors in hotel rooms and interpret films under their scrutiny. Each of the six to eight sections of the exam takes about 1/2 hour.
Like all physicians, radiologists are required to complete courses of continued medical education. In addition, radiologists can now become proficient in other areas such as neuro radiology, pediatric, and interventional radiology.